6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. 9 The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. 11 He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Born Again by the Will of God
Introduction and Overview
There were many reasons for Jesus coming into the world. He came to take away our sins. He also came to set us free from the bondage of the law. Another reason for His coming was to release us from bondages to the fleshly passions, lusts and desires of human nature.
But there was one over-arching reason for His coming. Jesus came so that we could be born again by the will of God.
When Adam and Eve first walked the earth and the great fall occurred, sin was brought into the world. Their sin condemned the world to death, decay, and destruction. Man became separated from God and it was sin that stood between man and God. God created mankind to be His children, but His children disobeyed and were rejected. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden and away from the presence of God.
But now in Jesus we are able to be born again by the will of God, not by the will of man. God has sent His Son to be our salvation, Saviour, and Redeemer to restore the relationship Adam and Eve first had with God. In these words today we see the aim of that process of restoration.
Key points from reading:
Jesus is the light of the world and was attested as the Son of God by John the Baptist.
Much of the world rejected Him when He came, and do so to this day.
Those who accept Jesus are able to be born again by the will of God.
Discussion:
Scripture: John 1:6-8 – The witness of John the Baptist
John the Baptist was appointed by God to bear witness to Jesus. We see prophecies about him in the Old Testament. He was sent to announce the coming of Jesus as the Messiah or Christ. In the Old Testament he was prophesied as being the messenger sent before the coming of the Christ to bear witness to Him.
What we see is that Jesus was witnessed by John to be the light of the world. His light would shine in the world to enlighten people to the knowledge of God and the truth. John himself was not the light, but he bore witness that the light was Jesus and Jesus was the light.
The thing about light is that it takes away the darkness. And this is not just the physical darkness, but in this case it refers to the spiritual darkness in this world. This world is filled with darkness. People choose to follow the ways of darkness that lead to sin, rather than seeking the light. The light exposes those things that are kept in the darkness.
Jesus came to be the light of spiritual insight and knowledge to show up the darkness for the evil it is. But many choose to remain in darkness, and in His time, they chose to kill the light so they could remain in the dark spiritually. They hated to be exposed and rather than repent, they sought to destroy the light.
Scripture: John 1:10
We see here how great Jesus was and is. The world, indeed the whole universe, was made through Him. Jesus is the Creator of all that we can see, feel, and know. He is the one who brought everything into existence.
Certainly, Jesus did this in conjunction with God the Father. But everything that was made, was made through Jesus. In the spiritual realms He was known as “The Word, and from that we gather that it was Jesus, as The Word, who spoke everything into existence. This is the power of The Word.
And now we see this incredibly powerful and important being, The Word and the Son of God, coming into His Creation for one purpose. He is coming so that we can be born again, not as beings of flesh, but as beings of spirit. We are born again by the will of God so that we can live with Him into eternity.
Scripture: John 1:11-12 – The Children of God
In this time, as people born under sin, everyone is born into the darkness. And we are told that the father of those in this world, the father of darkness is the devil. It is he who seeks to keep people in the dark and to destroy them.
But Jesus came so that we could be removed from this kingdom of darkness to come into the light of God. The primary reason Jesus came is so that we could be born again by the will of God and become the children of God.
Furthermore, we see that another primary reason for the coming of Jesus was to destroy the works of the devil. Note these words:
“7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:7-8)
Being born by the will of God, or reborn as new creations in Jesus Christ, is one of the many ways that Christ is destroying the works of the devil that are works of darkness. When we come to Christ and are reborn through baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit, we are taking the first steps to being born again by the will of God. As we learn and grow in the Spirit we become children of the light, and by extension, the children of God.
Scripture: John 1:13 – Born again by the will of God.
In Christ Jesus we have the opportunity to become the children of God. We are to be reborn so that we can take on the likeness of our spiritual Father. For that to take place, we must be born again by the will of God. But how does this take place? What does it really mean to be born by the will of God?
Jesus had a very interesting conversation with the Pharisee, Nicodemus. In that conversation Jesus made a point of telling Nicodemus how a person can and must become born again by the will of God. This is what He said:
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicode’mus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicode’mus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ 8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8)
First we see that Jesus makes the point that unless a person is born again or born from above, which is what the Greek actually says, they can neither see nor enter the kingdom of God. The only people who will be able to enter God’s kingdom are those who have been born again by the will of God.
Jesus then explains HOW we are to be born again. We must be born again of water, and born again of the Spirit. What this means is that we must be baptised in water and baptised in the Holy Spirit. The symbolism of baptism is to enter the death and resurrection of Christ. As we go down into the water, we die with Him. Then as we are raised from the water, we are reborn as new creations in His resurrection with Him. And then when we receive the Holy Spirit given to us by God, we are born again of the Spirit.
This is the process for being born again by the will of God. Through this process, and by faith, we enter into the kingdom of God as new creations, and as the children of God in Christ Jesus.
Prayer Points:
Pray and ask the Lord to help you understand these things fully so that you can be born again by the will of God, and escape the darkness of this world.
Pray that you may fully come into the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and become a child of God as He intended you to be.
Leave a Reply